Chivington, Colorado
| Chivington, Colorado | |
|---|---|
| unincorporated community | |
Chivington in 2015.
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 Chivington, Colorado
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| Coordinates: 38°26′12″N 102°32′32″W / 38.43667°N 102.54222°WCoordinates: 38°26′12″N 102°32′32″W / 38.43667°N 102.54222°W | |
| Country |
 United States
|
| State |
 State of Colorado
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| County | Kiowa County |
| Government | |
| • Type | unincorporated community |
| Elevation | 3,891 ft (1,186 m) |
| Time zone | MST (UTC-7) |
| • Summer (DST) | MDT (UTC-6) |
| ZIP Code | Eads CO 81036 |
Chivington is an unincorporated community in Kiowa County, Colorado, United States. The U.S. Post Office at Eads (ZIP Code 81036) now serves Chivington postal addresses.
Chivington was named for the Reverend John Chivington, a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War, who was celebrated as the hero of the 1862 Battle of Glorieta Pass and commanded the 700 Union soldiers who perpetrated the Sand Creek massacre, a slaughter of Native Americans in a nearby gulch. The massacre was condemned by the United States Congress Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War and Territorial Governor John Evans lost his job for encouraging Chivington.
Chivington (est. 1887) was one of several railroad towns in Kiowa County on eastern Colorado's plains along the Missouri Pacific Railroad line, and in the late 19th century, eastern Colorado had a lot of agriculture and related commerce. Railroad workers also briefly contributed to the local economy as the Missouri Pacific extended into Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Palmer Lake, and eventually brought service into Denver.
As new towns along this railroad line formed, they were named alphabetically, which might explain why "Chivington" was chosen—with the massacre site only about 9 miles away, "C" brought the name "Chivington" to mind. And in Colorado, the massacre was not as infamous as in the rest of the nation.
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